


Digital World Assault

by TwiExMachina



Category: Digimon - All Media Types, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, For Science!, Humor, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 21:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1164531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwiExMachina/pseuds/TwiExMachina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi went into the Digital World on a short mission and completely disappeared.  In order to find him, someone needs to go in after him.  Instead of doing it himself, Erwin sent out a team of ragtag teenagers into the Digital World to find him.  All in the name of Science.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Digital World Assault

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes, friends are great. Other times, this happens.

Every single pod was built the same way, cold with patterns of circuitry over the entire pod, but Levi knew which one was his, and it wasn’t because Erwin was standing next to it, a satisfied smile on his face. It smelled like disinfectant. The first time he went into the Digital World, Levi had complained about the stench of the machine and Erwin nodded his head and promised that he’d fix it with a small smile (later he complained about the fact that no one had put in coding for clothes and Erwin smiled that time too, but he didn’t promise anything). “Is this better?” Erwin asked, gesturing to the pod.

“Much better. Did you clean anyone else’s?”

“You’re the only one that complained.”

Levi made a disgruntled noise. “Do you mind?” he asked, tugging at his robe.

“Of course,” Erwin said, turning his head the other way as Levi muttered “kinky fucker” under his breath. “It’s been a while since your last excursion into the Digital World. I’m sure Impmon misses you.”

“Course he does. He’s a needy brat. Yours is too, that overpowered shithead.”

“Of course. I miss him as well. But he’ll be fine on his own. You’ll be fine too.”

Levi grunted.

“Just because I’m not there doesn’t mean you’ll be alone. You’ll have plenty of company. You handpicked them yourself, so I expect no complaints.”

“Didn’t realize they’d be so young though. Hanji didn’t put ages on them. Probably wouldn’t have picked them…”

“They’ll be fine. They’ll adapt well. Just like we did. They’d probably be even better than we were. They’d probably have far more energy considering they’re all twenty-year-olds.”

Levi didn’t respond as he climbed into the pod, the circuitry piercing his back. Erwin moved to the controls, doing the regular tests. He spoke in an even, practiced voice while Levi responded in a distant, flippant way as everything fit its way into place, snapping along his spine and tracing his veins. “You’re just about ready to go. Should I bore you with the terms and conditions?”

“Fuck no.”

Erwin laughed and gripped the side of the pod, ready to shut Levi away. “This is only a short expedition, just to make sure your team is alright in these conditions, to form a potential bond, and set up more cameras. I’ll see you in a week.”

“Still not sure how much data you can get in a week.”

“You’d be surprised. Don’t do anything too hasty,” Erwin said, slightly teasing him like a young boy would tease his crush.

“Go fuck yourself.”

Erwin closed the pod and locked it. He looked through the faceplate as Levi closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep as he began his journey into the digital world. Hanji and Mobit reported visuals and began to follow them, as they would do throughout the entire procedure. That was their job, not Erwin’s. He knew his way around the facility, could do something here and there, but he wasn’t a lab bunny. Erwin occasionally went into the room and checked on their progress throughout the week, making sure Levi was fine and cursing. He wasn’t too concerned though. Levi was a skilled fighter, even in the Digital World, especially with Impmon at his side. The sixth day, he was in a meeting when Mobit called. He was stuttering like a child, tripping over the technical words and elaborating too much, but Erwin managed to get the gist that Mobit was trying to spit out.

They had lost sight of Levi. 

There was a tag on him, so that they’d be able to track his progress and—if he was in the vicinity of one of the cameras they had set up—view him. But he was gone. It was unlikely that the tag had broken, considering it was just a digital chip inside of Levi’s code. He had just disappeared off the face of the Digital World. Back in his pod, his steady breath fogged the faceplate.

Erwin was still calm, asking them to put all the cameras on screen and check them all. He’d come up eventually. They didn’t have every inch of the Digital World covered, but there was a substantial part there.

A week turned into two weeks, then a month. “This is bad,” Erwin admitted to Hanji. “Can we pull Levi out?”

Hanji didn’t look at him, scanning all the screens for any sign of Levi or Impmon. When Hanji finally spoke, Erwin was surprised by the tone, not jovial like it usually was but calm and serious. Desperate times, it seemed. “We could, technically. When we pull him in and out, we do it in a safe zone, which preserves every aspect of his existence. There’s nothing really special about the area, it’s just differently coded. We could pull him out anywhere. If we have the coordinates, there’s a good chance that he’d be fine.”

“Just a good chance?”

“Yep. The bad part is brain damage. Which is why we just keep to one stable place. But like I said, that’s only if we know exactly where he is and also that he doesn’t move.”

“Is there another way?”

Hanji shrugged. “In theory. I know Levi’s coding by heart. I can use his data to pull him out even if we don’t know where he is. But that’d probably have a high chance of killing him due to the mental trauma. It’d be like if I poked his brain stem with a knife.”

“So the short answer is no.”

Hanji shrugged, smirking just a bit. “You like it when you know everything.” Hanji let out a tired sigh, staring at the screen. “What would you suggest we do?”

“Search and rescue. Even if we find Levi, the only thing we can do is confirm he survived. We can’t communicate with him without that tag. We have no way of communicating with him.”

“I mean, I could construct a digivice but I’d be trying to use something real to communicate with something made of data and it’s just tiring.” Hanji finally looked at Erwin. “So are you volunteering?”

“Not this time. We’ll have to recruit more people.”

“I’ve got a few ideas, some well-known names on the internet.” Hanji began to smirk, that crazed tone Erwin knew so well returning. “Once Mobit wakes up, I’ll show you.”

\---

Eren’s screech rattled the glass of their small apartment. It wasn’t nearly as high-pitched as Armin’s scream, but Mikasa assumed it was of distress all the same. She grabbed her sword and ran down the hall, kicking Eren’s door open. “Who is it?”

Eren didn’t jump, stuffing his laptop under his pillow. He was glad that he didn’t lock his door, or it’d be off its hinges. “Nothing, Mikasa. Get out of my room.”

“What porn were you watching?”

“I wasn’t watching any porn!”

“But you hid your computer and you want me to leave. And you know how I feel about porn.” 

“Yeah yeah just get out.”

Mikasa tilted her head to the side. “What’s the matter, Eren?”

Eren sighed and fished out his laptop, waiting for Mikasa to sit next to him to look over his shoulder. Pushing her away wouldn’t do anything. She’d insist until the matter was solved. “The Digital Enterprise contacted me,” Eren said, opening a link that had his name on it, “and they want me to go into their simulated program in order to search for a very important staff member. Pretty important shit. They said that my fighting skills as well as my determination made me the ideal member for this mission. Cool, right?”

Mikasa nodded. “I’m glad you got one too.”

Eren stared at his computer for a couple of seconds, at his name on the very official email, licked his lips, then looked up at Mikasa’s cool face. “Too?”

Mikasa nodded. “Armin and I both got the emails last night. You should check your email more often.” She stood up, sword in her fist. “We should celebrate.”

“Yeah…”

“Armin doesn’t want to eat out, so we’ll probably make a big dinner, something very fancy.”

“Yeah…”

“We’ll have plenty of leftovers, so there’ll be plenty to eat in the coming days.”

“Yeah…”

“Armin and I are going to go shopping now. Do you want to come?”

Eren shook his head.

“Alright. Be safe, Eren.”

Eren waited for Mikasa and Armin to leave and the door to close quietly behind them before he threw his mouse at the wall. He took pleasure in watching the batteries pop out of the mouse and spin on the floor, resting the urge to lob his laptop and watch it burst apart. He should’ve realized that it wasn’t just him. Mikasa was fucking perfect. She fought better than anyone he had ever seen. When someone broke into their house, Mikasa effortlessly sent him to the hospital and later blogged about it while waiting for the ambulance to show up. She didn’t even have to unsheathe her sword, bludgeoning him with perfect precision. She was a hacker too, though she only used it occasionally, like against that revenge website, so it was for a noble cause that people praised later. Everything about her was insufferably perfect. That’s probably what the email said. “Mikasa, you’re so fucking perfect at everything plz join us and kick ass.”

His email praised his determination and his hand to hand fighting ability. He wasn’t anything special otherwise. He didn’t know how to hack anything, didn’t make his own computer like Armin, gave himself a headache trying to read code, and wasn’t the best at games. He just punched things.

Eren sighed and leaned back on the bed. He bet he could kick Mikasa’s ass in the Digital World. He held onto that fact and repeated it over and over in his head until it sounded less like a promise and more like a prayer.

\---

Bertolt reached out and grabbed Reiner’s sleeve as he walked by the desk. “Reiner. We got an email.”

“Ooohh…Is it a sexy email?”

Bertolt stuttered before managing to find his voice. “No!”

“Just joking.” Reiner sat down next to him, putting his coffee cup to the side. If he put it too close to the computer, Bertolt would get nervous, expecting it to tip over at any second and spill. “So what’s the email about?”

“The Digital Enterprise contacted us,” Bertolt said, tilting the screen towards him, in case he wanted to read the email. Reiner didn’t even glance at it, staring at Bertolt. “They noted that you’re a football star but don’t know how to use a computer and that I am extremely smart but I can’t fight. They said that combined, we create the ideal person, covering each other’s weaknesses, and that together we could be a great help in searching for someone who was lost in the Digital World, a private simulation.”

“That’s it?”

Bertolt frowned. He expected more enthusiasm, not quiet waiting for something big to happen. “It’s a pretty big deal.”

“You used too many big words,” Annie said, walking into the apartment and slamming the door behind her. “I don’t think he understood.”

“Do you ever knock?” Reiner asked, watching Annie throw her bag on the couch and slump in the chair, her DS already out.

“I knocked on Bertl’s apartment. You weren’t there.”

“We should change the locks, Bertolt.”

Bertolt stammered something and started typing.

“So you two got the email too?” Annie asked, absorbed in her game.

“Yep. Because we’re famous boyfriends,” Reiner tried to kiss Bertolt, but he turned his head away and Reiner ended up licking his cheek. Reiner frowned and wiped his cheek. “What are you famous for?”

“Mostly being on so many pictures on your blog. And looking like I’m going to stab Bertl at any minute.”

“And you don’t look that way with me? I’m flattered.”

“You’re usually the one holding the camera,” Bertolt said quietly, staring at his computer screen. He earned a hair ruffle for his troubles. He smiled a bit and kissed Reiner’s cheek. “So are we going?”

“Only if Annie is.”

Bertolt frowned and stared at Annie. She managed to spend a good thirty seconds engrossed in her game before she looked up at Bertolt. After a couple of seconds of Bertolt’s puppy dog eyes, she sighed. “It’ll be fun.”

Bertolt went over and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Annie.”

“Whatever.”

\---

Whenever Jean Kirestian came into view, “shitty cocksucker motherfucker” was right behind him. This applied to real life and video games, a bad attitude and a curse just around the corner. Most of his communications in video games were a string of swears with information hidden inside of it if it was needed. People half hated him for that and half hated him because he was so obviously better at this than they were. If he didn’t get four accusations of hacking a night, he felt like he wasn’t playing properly. 

He didn’t swear as much in real life, mostly because the vast majority of his real life revolved around school where “fuck” had to become “frick” or an elongated “eff” that went nowhere. So instead of saying dick, he just became one. No one else mattered in the world but him. It was a good thing he was the best, especially when it came to track. He was the resident track star. Whenever he ran in something, everyone knew who would win. It was only a competition for second place guy.

So when the Digital Empire email waltzed into his inbox, praising his athletic and gaming ability, it really was no surprise. Of course the company would want him. He decided to do some cursory research after he ran around the neighborhood a couple of times, screaming into the heavens.

\---

Marco’s parents wanted many things from their son. They wanted him to be like them. He was fine with that. Sure, being a gymnast, figure skater, and ballerina didn’t earn him the biggest balls in the playground, at least not in the traditional sense. That didn’t matter to him. He had fun doing it, even if he clearly wasn’t the best. But for some reason, he didn’t need to be. The email from the Digital Enterprise praised his dedication to multiple activities and braving the stigma attached to those activities, saying that he was quite a strong young man.

And that was all that mattered.

He didn’t celebrate when he saw the email, didn’t do anything special except print it out for his parents. He simply smiled and basked in the light of his computer.

He did something right.

\---

“Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Connie!”

“Heeeeeeerrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee’ssssssss Sasha! Dude, your name doesn’t go well with that meme.”

Sasha rolled her eyes and poked the computer screen. “Well excuuuuussssse me, Princess.”

“I’d be an ugly princess.”

“Because of your bald head.”

“If you’re going to Skype me just to yell at me, I’m going to block you.”

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooo…” Sasha said, waving her arms to draw him back.

“You just spat huge chunks of potato chips at me.”

“I just wanted you to have a taste!”

“Anyway! I have exciting news!”

“What is it, Connie! What is it, Connie!”

Connie began talking, moving his arms and body in strange positions that Sasha mimicked. “I!”

“Yeah!”

“Got!”

“Yeah!”

“Invited!”

“To a Digimon Card Tournament!”

“No! Well yes. But no!”

“Because I did!”

“Everyone’s going to be disappointed, because I’m not going to be going and you’ll obviously win without our stunning rivalry!”

“Why’s that, Connie!”

“Because I got invited to go to the Digital Enterprise and go into the Digital World!”

“Whoa!”

“Real live Digimon!”

“Those tournament goers are going to be so disappointed!”

“I know!”

“Because I got that invitation to!”

“What!”

“I know!”

Sasha and Connie made noises at their computers and wriggled their arms like they were rogue octopus monsters.

\---

Historia had no reason to be invited onto the Digital Enterprise. She didn’t have any skills that would be necessary for a search and rescue. She didn’t do any sports and just jogged to keep her figure. She wasn’t a hacker of any kind and her knowledge came not from books, but from how she understood people. She was a doll, a pretty girl that everyone fawned over, though that may have been the work of beauty pageants. She didn’t know what to think when she got the email in her inbox. She knew what her parents would think.

“It’s a Children’s Card Game!” like those three words were a brand in and of itself.

“Nothing good will come from that company!” like they understood what went on there.

She looked at herself in the mirror, at her long blonde hair. It had never been cut, only trimmed to make the edges even. She was instantly recognizable like that. She wanted to get away. She grabbed the craft scissors from her desk and began cutting her hair. Not too short. She liked her hair. But just past her shoulders. The hair lining the floor made such a difference in how she looked. She just needed some new clothes, something casual, no makeup, and she’d make a world of difference.

Historia Reiss was a beautiful pageant maiden. Christa Lenz was none of that.

\---

Honestly, Hanji had a hard time finding _her_ email. Hanji knew of _her_ but that was it. _She_ was a mystery, non-existent. _She_ appeared randomly, whenever _she_ wanted and left just as easily, with barely a digital footprint to confirm her existence. With a tag like Ymir, it was hard to believe she could be so stealthy. But she was. But Hanji’s life was code and what Ymir had built was nothing compared to the vastness of the Digital World. 

Ymir wasn’t sure what to make of the invitation. The idea intrigued her and she was itching to tear it apart. But at the same time, there would be a multitude of people. She didn’t like people. She liked cold, hard data and computers. People were warm and soft and stupid. Maybe if she went into the Digital World, she could stay there in a binary body and live off of the code that surrounded her.

She didn’t even have to reveal her name. That sounded wonderful.

\---

“I bet you twenty bucks that Levi will kill you when he finds out what you’ve done.”

Erwin smiled, as cold and stoic as he was when Hanji was listing off the perspective members, throwing them onto the list no matter the risk. “Hanji, there’s no use betting on the truth.”


End file.
